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| Court of Appeal upholds principle of whole-life prison terms | Court of Appeal upholds principle of whole-life prison terms |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Court of Appeal has upheld the principle of whole-life prison terms in two cases involving murderers. | The Court of Appeal has upheld the principle of whole-life prison terms in two cases involving murderers. |
| The court increased a 40-year tariff on murderer Ian McLoughlin to a whole-life tariff, after the trial judge had said he was unable to pass that sentence. | The court increased a 40-year tariff on murderer Ian McLoughlin to a whole-life tariff, after the trial judge had said he was unable to pass that sentence. |
| They also dismissed an appeal by murderer Lee Newell that his whole-life order was "manifestly excessive". | They also dismissed an appeal by murderer Lee Newell that his whole-life order was "manifestly excessive". |
| The rulings come seven months after the European Court of Human Rights ruled such terms should be reviewed. | The rulings come seven months after the European Court of Human Rights ruled such terms should be reviewed. |
| In a judgment last July, the court in Strasbourg ruled the terms breached a prisoner's human rights, following a successful appeal by convicted murderers Jeremy Bamber, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore. | |
| The court said that while it accepted whole-life orders could be justified, there should nevertheless be some way of having a sentence reviewed after 25 years. | |
| That decision prompted the judge dealing with McLoughlin - who murdered a man when on day release - to sentence him to life with a minimum term of 40 years, rather than a whole-life term. | |
| The case was referred to the Court of Appeal by Attorney General Dominic Grieve to rule whether it should be increased. | |
| The court also considered the case of Newell, who challenged his whole-life order for murdering child killer Subhan Anwar while already in prison for another killing. | |
| His lawyers had argued that if he was given a 40-year minimum he would have the "flickering possibility that one day when he is 85 he will be released from prison". | |
| Sentencing in a number of high-profile criminal cases - including the terms to be handed out to soldier Lee Rigby's murderers - had been put on hold pending the judgement. | |
| In that case the judge said he would wait for the decision before passing sentence on Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who were convicted in December of killing Fusilier Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, in May last year. |